Hidden Valley Wildlife Management Area

by Richard Kretz Richard Kretz is a regionally-acclaimed naturalist and photographer whose digital images capture the vibrant beauty and diversity of nature. His life project is to photographically document as much of the flora and fauna as possible in far Southwest Virginia. He resides at the foot of Clinch Mountain near Lebanon in Russell County, […]

Birds of the Powell, Clinch, and Holston River Watersheds

by Ed Talbott Photos courtesy of Roger Mayhorn except where noted rmayhorn@hughes.net http://pbase.com/mayhorn Three major river systems arise in the hill and valley region of Southwest Virginia and follow the ridgelines, flowing southwest into Northeast Tennessee. The rivers are the Clinch, the Powell and the Holston, and these rivers, along with the French Broad River, […]

Zero to 11,000 in 12 Years Flat: Bonanza in the Bluegrass State

Our boots hadn?t even touched the ground outside of the truck when we lost count of how many bulls we could hear. They were coming from a 360-degree arc around us, and one of them had to be inside 100 yards. It?s tough to pull out your gear in total silence when you?re twitching with adrenaline. My companion Claudis had a better excuse than I did, though. He?d never even seen an elk before the previous evening when we?d spotted a small herd.